a large motor vehicle, having a long body, equipped with seats or benches for passengers, usually operating as part of a scheduled service; omnibus.
a similar horse-drawn vehicle.
a passenger automobile or airplane used in a manner resembling that of a bus.
any vehicle operated to transport children to school.
a low, movable filing cabinet.
Electricity. Also called bus bar,bus·bar[buhs-bahr]/ˈbʌsˌbɑr/. a heavy conductor, often made of copper in the shape of a bar, used to collect, carry, and distribute powerful electric currents, as those produced by generators.
Computers. a circuit that connects the CPU with other devices in a computer.
verb (used with object),bused or bussed,bus·ing or bus·sing.
to convey or transport by bus: to bus the tourists to another hotel.
to transport (pupils) to school by bus, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school.
verb (used without object),bused or bussed,bus·ing or bus·sing.
to travel on or by means of a bus: We bused to New York on a theater trip.
1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The modern English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense of "lose an opportunity," is from 1901, Australian English (OED has a figurative miss the omnibus from 1886). Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.
v.
1838, "to travel by omnibus," from bus (n.). Transitive meaning "transport students to integrate schools" is from 1961, American English. Meaning "clear tables in a restaurant" is first attested 1913, probably from the four-wheeled cart used to carry dishes. Related: Bused; busing.
